PALAK PANEER

Palak Paneer is one of the most popular paneer dishes.It is made of spinach ,paneer cubes and other indian spices.Its a Punjabi dish and is eaten with any Indian flat bread.
A great substitute for paneer is chinese firm tofu which is made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.

I am sending this post to 2 events Susan's Beautiful bones-an osteoporosis event and for Joelen's tasty tool challenge for May-The Mighty blender.

For osteoporosis event,calcium rich ingredients used here are:

Paneer - Indian cheese and spinach

INGREDIENTS

Paneer -20-25 cubes-i used home made

Spinach - A whole bunch

water

onion - 1 medium size ,diced

tomato - 2 medium size,diced

cinnamon stick - 1/2 a piece

cloves - 2-3

cardamam pods- 2

cumin seeds - 1 tsp

turmeric - 1/2 tsp

chilli pdr - 1 tsp

gin-gar paste - 1 tsp

coriander pdr - 1 1/2 tsp

garam masala - 1 tsp

curry leaves - 1 sprig

salt

butter and oil

METHOD

In a vessel bring some water to a boil and switch off the flame.Drop the spinach leaves into the hot water for just 30 sec - 1 min or just until it gets soft.Then immediately remove it from the hot water and put it in ice cold water.This will help in keeping its green color and stop further cooking.Then grind it smoothly in a blender and keep it aside.

Heat a pan coat the bottom of it with little butter.Place the paneer cubes in 1 layer in the pan and brown any 2 opposite sides of the cubes,remove and set aside.In the same pan pour little oil.When it gets hot add cumin seeds,whole cinnamon stick,cloves and cardamam pods.Stir it for a minute and then add the onions,curry leaves,gin-gar paste ,turmeric and salt.Ones the onions are slightly translucent then add tomatoes,red chilli pdr,coriander pdr and garam masala.Saute everything till its raw smell goes.Sprinkle with water if it gets too dry.Fish out the whole cardamam pods from the masala and transfer it all into a blender and grind it smoothly and keep it aside.

In the same pan pour the pureed spinach and cook it until its raw flavor goes.Add in the onion-tomato masala puree to it and bring it back to a boil.Add the paneer cubes and simmer for 10 mins.Serve hot with any indian flat bread.